Various different types of coverings exist for placement in architectural openings, such as windows, doors, archways and the like. Such coverings include blinds and shades. Many shades, for instance, comprise a fabric covering that is placed in an architectural opening and includes a head rail assembly that not only mounts the shade within the opening, but also provides a control mechanism for raising and lowering the shade as desired. For instance, the control mechanism may comprise a drawstring or an electric motor.
Some shade assemblies include rollers that are rotatably mounted, usually in a horizontal orientation, across the top of the architectural opening. A shade material, such as a fabric, is attached to the roller. Rotating the roller in one direction causes the shade to extend and rotating the roller in an opposite direction causes the shade to retract.
Shade assemblies that include a rotating roller are very popular with consumers. Roller assemblies, for instance, are easy to operate and are very compact, especially when the shade is in a fully retracted position. Roller assemblies, however, have been somewhat limited for use in conjunction with specific types of shade materials. For instance, although roller shade assemblies are well suited for use with lighter and softer materials, such as spunbond materials and lower basis weight woven fabrics, roller assemblies typically do not work well with textured materials or materials that are relatively stiff. Textured materials, for instance, have a tendency to fall out of alignment when being wound on a roller. In particular, the materials have a tendency to skew or telescope at one end which can cause the shade assembly to malfunction and can cause damage to the shade material.
In view of the above, a need currently exists for a roller shade assembly capable of accommodating textured materials.